LOGIC, MONEY & HIGHER EDUCATION

Posted on July 31, 2013 @ 10:00am

My Dad, who had eight children, was a firm believer that kids shouldn't start out their lives in debt.  And for the four us who ended up going to college, none of us did.  But that game has changed.  He would be saddened to see his grandchildren starting out life buried in a mountain of debt.  It certainly is not a great beginning for them as individuals --  and I can't imagine it is good for the American economy.  How do you buy a house when you are paying substantial-sized car and college loans?  And do we really want to teach our young adults that carrying lots of debt is the American way?  

What's more baffling is that while the cost of college keeps rising, our access to information is getter cheaper and cheaper.  Learning about anything is literally a Google search away.   I struck up a casual conversation with a young hotel employee who was helping me set up a meeting room.  He said he was working while going to school.  We got to talking about his classes and there was one class where he was having difficulty learning from the teacher.  I asked him what he did about it.  He said, matter-of-factly, that he was learning the subject on YouTube.  We are paying $30,000 tuitions to Universities whose primary interest is not hiring the best Professors to teach our children.  Can someone explain why as consumers we are hanging are to this archaic and expensive structure?  And why, with the advent of cheap information and easy-access, we haven't demanded more for less?   

With three boys of my own who will be college-bound in a few years, I'm hoping we figure out something soon.   They deserve more and we can do better.   -- tm